Body found in search for Florida couple, grandkids who went missing after private plane crash

A body confirmed to be one of the four missing passengers whose plane from the Bahamas crashed on the way back to Florida has been found by a relative who took up the search effort himself, their family has revealed.

Mario Lamar, 80 – who was piloting the doomed craft – along with his wife, Lili Lamar, 79, and two of their grandchildren, 28-year-old Sofia Sosa and 22-year-old Christian Sosa, were on board the private plane that went down in the Atlantic Ocean Monday morning, vanishing near North Andros Island.

The family did not say which of their bodies was found, according to the Miami Herald.

A body confirmed to be either Mario Lamar, 80, Lili Lamar, 79, Christian Sosa, 22, or Sofia Sosa, 28, was found after a Piper PA-34 aircraft that departed Great Harbour Cay Airport in the Bahamas on Sept. 7 crashed on its way to Miami. Family Handout

Mario Lamar, 80, who was piloting the doomed PA-34 Piper five-seater aircraft. Silvi Larrieu

Mario and Lili Lamar’s son rushed to the Bahamas after hearing about the crash and began searching the waterway himself after poor weather delayed the official US Coast Guard and Royal Bahamian Defence Force search.

“A civilian — one of our own family members — was the person who located our loved one and had to bring their deceased relative onto their own boat,” the family said in a statement.

The family urged any pilots or boaters in the area to help with the search for the remaining three family members, sharing their last known approximate coordinates and a VHF radio frequency to aid in coordinating a civilian search, the outlet writes.

Three more family members have joined the search as of Tuesday morning, according to family spokesperson Silvia Larrieu.